Mr. Tim Cullinan:

It is important that we get this regulator up and running. We are hearing this evening that it has not happened yet, and I am mystified by that. Obviously, if we can get everybody in the supply chain, from the primary producer right through to the retailer, to agree a charter and work together, that would be beneficial. That said, there are huge challenges here. At primary producer level, the cost of production has sky rocketed over the last year and a half although costs have come back somewhat more recently.

A number of things need to happen. The annual contract with a grower is very challenging as well, if we are going to develop this business. As the Deputy said herself, education is important here. If we are trying to encourage younger people into the sector, it is very hard to have a drop-dead every year. We need to see more honesty from the retailers here. They understand themselves that supply is becoming an issue. We have a situation now where we are seeing shelves empty and that is a wake-up call for everybody in the sector. If they want a viable sector, they have to engage. Maybe we need to go back to the Minister on this. Maybe the food regulator will need more powers going forward. I get nervous when we just talk about voluntary codes and so on. It is a huge challenge. We have seen this in the beef industry in the past.

We welcome the food regulator but the amount of power it has is a concern. While we are in a much better place than we were a year ago, we need to see the regulator's office up and running and we need to see everybody around the table trying to drive this new strategy forward. The fact that we have the key stakeholders, namely the primary producers who we represent, Teagasc, the Department, and Bord Bia around the table is important but obviously the final cog in the wheel is the retail sector. Retailers need to understand that they have to bring certainty if we are going to grow this sector. Obviously the Government is important as well. As Deputy Kerrane said earlier, in terms of aid this year, two of the important sectors were excluded. The fact that the Minister could have co-funded this but did not do so is a concern for us.